‘Inspection found poor working conditions at Indian iPhone factory in 2021’

A government inspector found various poor and dangerous working conditions at an iPhone production site in late 2021. Employees tell TIME that the location has improved, but still talk about poor and unhealthy conditions.

The Government Inspector of Tamil Nadu State struck according to TIME workers who had to solder iPhone parts without suitable protective clothing such as goggles or gloves. According to the inspection, in the parts of the Foxconn factory where soldering took place, the ventilation system was not good enough to properly remove harmful gases. The soldering process in the factory was therefore ‘very dangerous for the health of the employees’.

Large equipment such as pressing machines did not have proper protective mechanisms to prevent injuries. Some employees had to work too long in one day and also had to work for too long in a row without days off. The toilets were not cleaned properly, employee records were incomplete and more than 4,500 of the 6,126 employees were employed by subcontractors who were not registered with the state.

According to TIME, the inspector suggested that these working conditions violated the law and Apple’s own supplier code of conduct. The inspector threatened Foxconn with further action unless the company issued an explanation within a week. After this inspection, Foxconn says it has invested $1.6 million in improving working conditions within the factory, under the supervision of Apple and the state.

Apple, Foxconn and Tamil Nadu had so far remained silent on these issues at the Sriperumbudur plant. TIME says it based the story on government documents and conversations with employees. Those employees acknowledge that the factory is now doing better, but say that the high production targets still lead to problems. For example, employees can hardly take a toilet break and often have to continue performing the same tasks, which means, for example, that they have to continuously make the same screw movement every day with up to 520 iPhones per hour, or 1 iPhone every 7 seconds. The employees complain that not enough attention is paid to their physical health complaints.

These points would also violate Apple’s supplier code of conduct. Violations of this code of conduct can, in the most extreme cases, lead to the cancellation of agreements with that supplier, Apple says. According to TIME, this company did not want to comment substantively on employee complaints, but says it does have ‘various feedback channels, such as surveys and anonymous reports’. Apple also says based on its own audits that working conditions within the factory are improving.

The Indian production location is important for Apple, because the company wants to become less dependent on China. Partly because of the country’s recent coronavirus lockdowns, which limited iPhone production, but also because of deteriorating political relations between China and the United States. Previously, Foxconn only made older iPhone models at the Sriperumbudur factory, but since September 2022, current devices have also been made there, such as the iPhone 14 and now also the iPhone 15. By 2024, production here should have quadrupled to 20 million annually. iPhones.